Blessed Celestina Donati - March 18

Maria Anna Donati was born in Marradi (Firenze) on October 28, 1848. She soon felt attracted by the religious life, so she spent a period of reflection with the Sisters of Vallombrosa, but the experience was not successful. She returned to her family and was later entrusted to the spiritual guidance of the Piarist priest Father Celestino Zini, Sch.P., who recognized her hidden spiritual possibilities and led her to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. With his advice, at age 41, she founded the new Congregation of the “Poor Daughters of St. Joseph Calasanz” in 1899. Commonly known as the “Calasanziane,” its purpose was educating poor Christian girls, and their ministry was later expanded to include the education of the children of prisoners. The message of Calasanz, endorsed by Mother Celestina Donati, who, upon taking her vows, had changed her name from Mary Anne, was always alive and present, and her sisters actively taught educational and social skills, and they became well-known for instilling within their students more than just human and civil skills but especially the “extra soul” that comes from faith. In 1892, her spiritual director and driving force, Father Zini, died. He had become the archbishop of Siena but maintained all responsibility for the institution. He governed wisely, and the sisters soon spread throughout all regions of Italy. She knew how to instill within her daughters the spirit of poverty that accompanied all her life, avoiding many difficulties in the management of the Institute. Humble in nature, she posed any problem to her ecclesiastical superiors and followed their advice with docility. She worked hard to establish the Institute in Rome, contracting considerable debt, and succeeding with the help of many people. Mother Celestina died in Florence on March 18, 1925, and the cause for her beatification began ten years later. On July 12, 1982, the decree of introduction was published, and on April 6, 1998, she was acknowledged as one having heroic virtues and was given the title of Venerable. She was beatified in Florence on March 30, 2008. Among the many houses that her Calasanziane sisters run, there is the “oasis calasanziana” and "Mamma Bella,“ which is located on the Salentine Fields, near Lecce, in whose church lie the relics of the Piarist priest Saint Pompilio Maria Pirrotti, who had lived and taught there. The work of the sisters continues, and they now minister to Albanian immigrants.